


String of Fate

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-23
Updated: 2012-04-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 03:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/389492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, circumstances.  The thread my stretch or tangle, but it will never break."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sleepwalker

"A red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, circumstances.  The thread my stretch or tangle, but it will never break."

            You were never very superstitious.  You never went out of your way to avoid stepping on a crack, and you never cared about whether or not you opened an umbrella inside.  (If it was raining, why would you bother opening it outside and risk getting wet?)  You only avoided walking under ladders because you were afraid they would fall on you, and if a black cat crossed your path, you would always try and see if it would let you pet it.

            You were never very superstitious, and yet you wholeheartedly believed in the String of Fate.  You believed that out there, someone who was made for you was living and breathing, lost and searching for you, just as you were searching for them.  You dated often, having a new girl every two weeks, but none of them ever clicked.  Rose said there was no way for you to know whether or not someone was perfect for you unless you actually tried to hold a serious relationship.  You told her that if that person was the other side of your string, then everything would just… click.

            One year, Rose invited you to her family Christmas gathering.  When you asked why, Rose explained that she wanted you to be her fake-date, a small deterrent to get her mother to stop asking questions about her love life.  You agreed, since you didn’t have any other plans—Dad had a business meeting he had to go to, and he apologized a thousand times for it.

            You showed up in New York at approximately 3 P.M., and nearly an hour later, you were at the Lalonde’s scenic house.  It sat just over a waterfall, and honestly, you thought it was the most interesting piece of architecture you’d ever seen.  You gathered your luggage and some of Rose’s, and carried it into the house.

            Four hours later, you were in Rose’s living room with a light drink in your hands, talking to Rose’s mom about wizards and ghosts.  Rose was in the kitchen, cooking up something for dinner, and you felt bad that she was alone, but she had already assured you that cooking with someone else in the kitchen was actually kind of a bother.  The doorbell rang suddenly, and Rose’s mom excused herself.  You took that moment to move to the doorway of the kitchen and talk to Rose.

            “So your mom is kind of interesting,” you said.

            “If by interesting you really meant inebriated, then yes,” Rose replied simply.  “She has character, I’ll admit that, but she also has a way of being friendly with the liquor cabinet.”

            You couldn’t help but laugh at her comment, when suddenly Rose’s mom called from the front hallway.

            “Rose!  Dirk and Dave are here!  Stop cooking for a moment and come greet them, will you?  Oh, and bring John!”

            Rose sighed deeply and looked at you, giving you a small, reassuring smile.  You smiled back and followed her to the doorway.  You looked up and instantly saw the two guests.  Your breath caught in your throat.  The older one was tall and muscular, sporting a white polo and a gray hat.  He had spiky platinum blond hair, as well as ridiculous pointy sunglasses.  The other one was a little shorter, and a lot thinner, but you could still tell that he was incredibly fit.  He had ridiculous pointy shades, too, but he wasn’t wearing a hat, and his platinum hair wasn’t very spiky at all.  He caught your attention completely, and you couldn’t look away.

            “John, this is Dirk and Dave Strider, my father and brother, respectively.  My parents are divorced.  Dirk, Dave, this is my friend, John.”  Rose motioned appropriately to each person, and you smiled weakly, offering up a small wave.

            “Hello,” you said quietly.  Both of the Striders replied with a simple, “’Sup,” before moving further on into the house.  You couldn’t stop looking at Dave.  There was just something… about him.  You followed them into the living room and sat down on a couch, sitting stiff and straight while both Striders relaxed completely on the other couch.  Rose sneaked back into the kitchen, and Rose’s mom, Roxy, sat down next to you.

            You all talked while Rose made dinner, and it wasn’t soon before you were completely relaxed as well, laughing and offering up your own commentary and jokes.  Dinner was spent relatively the same way, only this time both of the Lalonde ladies and Dirk all teased Dave.  You couldn’t stop laughing, and you couldn’t stop watching Dave.  At one point, you even thought that maybe he might be watching you.

            That night, Roxy announced that Dave and Dirk would be staying in one of the spare bedrooms, while you would be staying in the other.  Apparently they both flew in from Texas, which definitely explained their slight accents.  They were an interesting pair, and you wanted to know more about them.

            You wanted to know more about Dave.

            You said goodnight to Rose with an innocent, friendly kiss on the cheek, and then you prepared for bed.  You changed into your pajamas and brushed your teeth, and then crawled into the sheets, quickly falling asleep.

            _Everything was white.  It was white and quiet.  You wore white pajamas, and you were also barefoot.  You looked down at your hand and saw a red string tied around your left ring finger.  You looked up and saw the red string stretch before you, leading on into the white abyss.  You don’t know why, but you picked the string up and started to follow it, gathering it into a circle as you walked._

_It felt like hours, but you kept wandering, continually gathering that red string in your hands.  You came across areas of it that were knotted, frayed, and stretched thin, but you kept going.  After what felt like days of wandering—or maybe it was months, or years—you finally saw something ahead.  It was a person, and they were walking towards you, gathering the red string as well.  You felt your heart stop—or maybe it was beating faster—as you watched the figure._

_You walked quickly, gathering the string as you went, desperate to see the person on the other end of the string.  They kept their head down, always looking at the ground.  You finally reached the person on the other end, stopping in front of them.  You were breathing heavily, and shakily, excited and anxious to see the face of the person you’d been searching for._

_You stared at the string attached to their left ring finger, and you swallowed thickly.  Their pajamas were attached with a white hood, and you shakily lifted your hands to grip the hood._

_“It’s you,” you whispered.  “I found you.”  You gently slid the hood off their head just as they looked up at you.  You instantly stopped breathing, breath catching in your throat, heart pounding in your ears.  Bright red eyes stared back at you, framed by white-blond hair.  Your mouth suddenly went dry as you recognized the face in front of you._

_“…Dave?”_


	2. Falling Into Place

            When you woke up the next morning, sun streaming through the windows and the sounds of a waking household drifting up through the floors, you felt disoriented.  You spent your entire life searching for someone, that one person who was meant just for you, and when you finally find them, it’s Dave Strider.

            Dave Strider, your best friend’s brother.  Dave Strider, a boy you only met the day before.  Dave Strider… a boy.  You groaned loudly and rolled over onto your stomach, burying your face into the pillow.

            “I was going to surprise you awake, but it appears as though you’re already up,” you heard Rose say.  You turned your head and looked at her, standing in the doorway of the bedroom, smirking at you.  “Have a bad dream?”

            “Actually,” you grumbled, “I did have a dream.  And I guess it was good.  I kind of want to talk about it.”

            Rose quirked an eyebrow at you and sat down on the foot of your bed.  You sat up and stared at her for a moment, and then you sighed.  “I had a dream, and everything was white.  I looked down at my hand and I saw the Red String tied to it—“

            “Not the Red String Dream again,” Rose sighed, turning to look at you.  “I’ve heard it a thousand times.  You always get closer, but you never catch a glimpse.”

            “It was different this time!” you exclaimed, leaning forward.  “I saw him, Rose! I touched him!”

            “’Him’?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.  “You mean it was a he?”

            You frowned and looked down at the bed.  “It’s worse than that.  I saw his face, Rose.  It was Dave.”

          This time she looks at you with complete shock.  “My brother?  Are you sure?  John, you only just met him…”

            “I know!” you nearly shout, gripping the sheets, “but it was him!  It was hard to tell because his glasses were off, but I just… it was him!  And, wow, gosh, _his eyes_ , Rose.  They’re red!  At least in my dream, they were.  And I couldn’t keep my eyes off him last night, there was just something about him… Rose… he might really be the one!”

            Rose sighed deeply and nodded.  “He does have red eyes… and for you to have known that without seeing them last night is… incredible.  But now this presents the problem of your sexuality, and as much as I would love to expand upon this further, I must admit that usually I make it a general rule to never psychoanalyze anyone before my morning coffee.”

            You laugh gently and nod, tossing your covers back.  “Yeah, that’s a pretty good rule to live by.”  You stand up and follow Rose downstairs, sitting down at the table, which is already set with coffee and breakfast foods and tableware.  Roxy smiles and greets you, and you smile back, pouring yourself a glass of milk.

            Rose sits down next to you, and the three of you talk while you eat.  You notice that neither Strider is awake yet, despite the fact that everyone else is.

            “No respectable Strider ever wakes up before noon,” Roxy stated jubilantly.  “Just you watch.  Even on Christmas Day, they will refuse to wake up early.”

            Rose chuckled quietly into her drink.  “Neither of them have ever had a Christmas with John, Mother.  I guarantee you that’s going to change.”

 

Several hours later, both of the Striders awaken, thumping around the house in their boxers.  They each shower and get dressed, and at exactly 1:30 P.M., they thud down the stairs, just in time for lunch.  You made sandwiches with Rose and Roxy, and together, the Striders consumed over half of the platter.

            You spend the next few days hanging out with the Striders and Lalondes, and you never once felt out of place.  It felt so natural, talking to them, that you felt as if you knew them your entire life.  And ever since your dream, you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter every time that Dave so much as looked at you.

            That night, you decided you had to speak to Rose.  After everyone went to bed, you knocked on her door, knowing full well that she would still be awake, reading.

            “Come in, John,” she answered quietly from the other side of the door.  You let yourself in, sitting on the foot of her bed and crossing your legs. 

            “I really like him, Rose.  And it goes so far beyond my dream.  I think I would like him regardless.  It just feels so natural, talking to him, being friendly… It’s like I’ve known him my entire life.”

            Rose smiled at you, and she closed her book, gently placing it on her nightstand.  “I can see your dilemma, John.  You’ve been searching for this person your entire life, from the moment you knew about the Red String, and when you finally find this person, they’re male.  And you’re presumably heterosexual.  He also lives over a thousand miles away, seeing as how we both attend the University of Chicago, and he goes to the University of Texas.”

           “Oh, gosh, I didn’t even think about that!” you sigh, slumping forward.  “Rose… this isn’t going to work out, is it?  It’s crazy!  I mean… I honestly think I could be with him, even if he is male, because… I just really like him!  But he lives so far away, and we only just met!  He probably doesn’t even like me!  This is stupid, and I’m stupid for buying into it.”

            Rose frowned at you.  “John.  You really like him?  Despite the fact that he has a Y chromosome, you still think you could be with him?”

            You thought about it for a moment.  “Yeah, I… I think I could!  No, I know I could.  I dunno, Rose, I just—“

            Rose suddenly got a sly smile on her face, and you stopped in the middle of your sentence.

            “Dave is transferring to Chicago.  He says that Dirk drives him nuts, and that he can’t stay in Texas any longer.  I offered him a place to stay in my apartment, so long as he pays his way in rent.  He took me up on the offer.  He’ll be transferring this upcoming semester.  I never said anything to you because I did not think it was important until now.  So with distance out of the equation, how do you feel about this situation?”

            You sat there for a long time, mouth slightly open in shock.  Dave… in Chicago?  Was your heart beating faster, or did it stop?  Were you still breathing?  You looked at Rose.

            “Are you serious?”

            “Quite.”

            “Rose, I…”  You felt yourself smile, and you couldn’t help but lean forward and hug her. 

            You finally found the person you’d been looking for, and just when you thought he was out of your grasp, everything seemed to fall right into place.


	3. Home Is Where the Heart Is

Christmas break continued on relatively quickly, much to your disappointment.  You didn’t know about the Striders when you originally went gift shopping, so on Christmas Eve, you rushed into town to buy two relatively cheap and only semi-meaningful gifts for them.  They seemed to appreciate it nonetheless.  At the end of the trip, right before you and Rose boarded one plane and the Striders boarded the other, you gathered up the courage to get Dave’s chumhandle.  He gave it to you with a small smile, and then went on his way.

            You spoke for the rest of your winter break, talking into the wee hours of the night, smiling helplessly at his bright red text.  You got to be great friends, and you even learned that Dave wasn’t even as cool as he pretended to be.  He was actually a massive dork, with way too much interest in apple juice and dead things.  (The dead things bit was a little concerning, but you figure he had to have something weird about him, otherwise he’d just be too great to be true.)

            About a week into the new semester, Rose called you and said that Dave was officially moved in.  She slyly asked if you wanted to help unpack, and of course you couldn’t say no.  You told her you would be there after your classes ended at three, and she said that was fine.

            At four o’clock, you knocked on the door, and Rose quickly answered it with a smile.

            “Hello, John.”

            “Hey Rose!” you cheered, letting yourself in.  Rose shut the door behind you, and motioned to the hallway.

            “You know the layout of my apartment well enough.  His bedroom is my former study, just across from the bathroom.  That’s where he is.  John—“ she lightly grabbed ahold of your arm before you could leave, “—I’m curious to know.  Do you still…?”

            The question was open-ended, but you knew exactly where she was going.  You offered her a bright smile.  “Yeah.  I do.”

            Rose nodded quickly, and let go of your arm.  “Alright.  Go ahead.  If someone doesn’t help the poor guy, he’ll probably never get himself unpacked.  He banned me from helping about half an hour ago after I started ‘freaking him out over a few well-placed insinuations,’ and I quote.”

            You couldn’t help but laugh as you moved down the hallway.  You lightly knocked on Dave’s door before gently pushing it open, instantly taking note of how absolutely right Rose was.  Dave still had a well-sized stack of boxes left to unpack, and all he was doing was playing some game on his iPod, lounging on his bed.  His glasses were on his face, as per usual, and his blond hair fell gently over them, somewhat obscuring his face.  It was stupidly attractive, and you almost didn’t notice when he spoke.

            “Hey.”  It was one word, and yet your mouth almost instantly went dry, leaving your tongue thick and heavy in your mouth.

            “Hey!” you rasped out in response, moving over to the stack of boxes.  “I can see you’re getting a lot done.  I’m barely even needed here!  What a waste of time.”

            “So I lost interest in pulling things out of boxes only to have no idea where to put them, sue me.”

            “I might.”  You looked down at the uppermost box, labeled with FRAGILE all over.  “What’s in here?”

            “Dead shit,” Dave responded simply, continuing to play his game.  You grimaced, and he must have seen that because he chuckled quietly, deep and low, and you thought you could see some teeth.  “I’ll probably end up selling most of it, otherwise Rose might pull out her _Grimdark for Freaks Who Want to Traumatize Their Brothers_ book and reanimate them.”

            You laughed.  “I don’t think reanimation is actually a thing that can happen.”

            “Oh, it’s a thing,” Dave said dramatically.  “She’d do it too, the psycho.”  He finally shut off his game, shoving his iPod into his pockets.  He moved over and picked up the Dead Shit box, placing it on his bed.  “Besides, it’ll help out with the money and stuff until I can get an actual job.  You’d be surprised how much people pay for unborn horse fetuses.”

            “Gross,” you sneered, looking down at the second box.  “This says it’s all clothes.  I’ll get this box.”

            “No way,” Dave countered, grabbing the box before you could.  “I have a very strict guideline for where clothes go, I’ll do that on my own.”

            You looked down at the third box, which was labeled PUPPETS.  “Puppets… really?  I thought you hated them.”

            Dave looked at you like he didn’t know what you were talking about, and then he looked down at the box.  “Dirk, that little shit!  See, this is why I moved out, I was afraid of going to the bathroom at night because the damn guy would shove smuppets in my face while I was taking a piss.  I’m shipping this back to him ASAP.”

            You couldn’t help but laugh, moving the box away to look at the fourth and final box.  “This one says ‘shit’ on it.  Like, literally.  That’s what it’s labeled as.  Shit.”

            Dave smirked, nodding.  “Yeah, that’s all my music stuff.  CDs and vinyl records I own, notebooks with lyrics I wrote, even some CDs with shit I recorded myself.  You know.  There should also be some photography shit in there, too.”

            “Why don’t you put this stuff away, and I’ll put your clothes in your closet.  You can freak out like a baby later and rearrange them, but I don’t really want to break anything.”  Dave frowned at you for a moment, obviously not happy about being called a baby.  You didn’t really care.  He then shrugged and moved over to the box and started pulling stuff out.  You moved to his closet and started putting his clothes away.

            By about seven o’clock, you had all of his clothes put away, all of his stuff in the right areas, and even had most of his dead stuff listed on EBay.  It was too late to mail the smuppets back to Dirk, but Dave swore he would do that first thing tomorrow.  Rose had dinner ready when you were done, and after dinner, you decided it was time to go home and get some homework done.

 

The rest of the month consisted relatively just like that, lazily hanging out at Rose and Dave’s place whenever the three of you combined managed to all have free time at the same time.  Sometimes you would hang out with just Rose, and sometimes with just Dave.  It was nice, until your dream came back.

 

_You were once again trapped in the white purgatory, the only color around being the Red String tied to your hand.  You followed the string once again, and quicker than usual, the person on the other end appeared.  You repeated the same thing you did last time, sliding the hood off to yet again see Dave.  His eyes were just as red as the string tied to both of you, and you couldn’t stop your hands from roaming over his face, thumbs gently caressing his cheek bones._

_This time, he moved.  He smiled softly at you, and you felt your heart melt at the sight.  God, he was so beautiful, and you had never thought of a man that way before, but it was just so painfully true.  You felt something warm, and you looked down to notice that his hands were lightly rested on your shoulders._

_You looked up at him with surprise, gently weaving your hands into his hair.  He leaned forward, slowly, and you found yourself leaning forward as well.  He was close, so close, you could feel his breath against your lips…_

            You woke up to the harsh sound of your alarm clock blaring in your ear, causing you to sit upright in surprise.  You fumbled about and quickly shut off your alarm.  You then buried your face in your hands, exhaling deeply.

            You had to tell him.


	4. At Last

            The decision to tell Dave about your feelings was probably the scariest thing you’ve ever done.  You didn’t really know how you were going to do it, but you knew that you had to.  Staying silent was killing you.  Everything felt so natural around him, and even if you only really knew him for about a month, you knew that you really, really liked him.

            You built up your resolve for a week, finally deciding that the sooner you got it off your chest, the better.  You asked Dave if maybe he’d like to go to lunch with you after classes on Tuesday and he said that it was either that or eating alone, so of course he’d be okay with that.

            So when 1 o’clock on Tuesday rolled around, you found yourself seated at a table for two in the Panera right around the corner.  Dave was late—Dave was always late, something you found out about him very quickly.  He arrived at about 1:15, and you went up to order together.  He got his usual plain bagel with honey nut cream cheese, and you got a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese.  You both ordered some sort of blended coffee drink.

            You only picked at your bagel while Dave practically inhaled his.  Usually you would have eaten just as quickly, but you were way nervous than before.  Your resolve was breaking, and the more you thought about it, the more you decided that you couldn’t do it anywhere so… public.

            “Dave?” you asked, swallowing a small bit of your bagel.

            “Yeah?”

            “Do you want to come over after this?”

            “Sure.”

            The way he said it was so nonchalant, so absolutely _normal_ that it actually caused your face to heat up and turn a little red.  He had no idea that you were going to confess to him.  No idea that you were going to inexplicably fuck everything up, and yet you couldn’t stop yourself.

            You finished up quickly and Dave followed you home.  You both sat around in your apartment and played video games for a while.  Once again, it felt totally natural and you were just so at ease around him.  You couldn’t hold it in any longer.  You had to tell him.

            “Dave,” you stated quietly, turning to look at him from your spot on the floor.  He looked away from the screen, pausing Mario Kart Wii in order to give you his full attention.

            “Yeah?” he asked, turning slightly to face you.

            “I, uh… I like you.”

            He paused for a moment, and you thought he was going to turn you down right there.

            “I like you too, John.  You’re pretty fun to hang around and stuff.  Can we go back to Mario Kart now?  I was about to kick your ass with a koopa shell.”

            “No, Dave… Dave, I mean it!  Like, I really like you!”

            Dave sat there for a moment, and you weren’t sure what to feel.  He finally looked up at you, frowning slightly. 

            “Are you serious about this?”

            “Dave, wh—“

            “This isn’t some stupid prank?”

            There was a hardness to his voice, and you weren’t sure whether or not it was a good thing.

            “Of course it’s not a prank!  Jeez, I’m not that much of an asshole.  No, I’m being really serious…”

            He stared at you for a little while longer, and you started to feel uncomfortable, staring back at your reflection in his sunglasses.

            After a long silence, he looked at you and said, “I like you too, John.  A lot.  And it’s crazy because I haven’t known you very long, but Jesus, it’s like we were—“

            “—meant to be,” you finish, eyes wide.  He stared back at you, and you knew he was surprised.  You were surprised.  You reached up and gently placed your fingers on the sides of his glasses, carefully pulling them off of his face.  He flinched, but otherwise stayed still.  You folded the glasses up neatly and placed them down at his side.  You looked up at his face, instantly taking note of his bright red eyes.  They were even more beautiful in person.

            “Dave, I…”

            “Can we try it?” he asked suddenly, throwing you for a loop.  “Kissing, I mean.  If you’re ready.  I’m being really forward, oh god.  I’m sorry.”

            “Dave, no,” you began, placing your hands on his cheeks.  “Shut up.  We can… We can try it!  I mean.  I want to.”

           He placed his hands on your shoulders, and suddenly the déjà vu of it all hit you.  It was just like your dream.  He leaned forward, and you did too, oh-so-slowly.  Only that time your lips actually met, gently brushing against each other.  It didn’t last long, only a second later and he was pulling away.  You ghosted your fingertips over your lips, and then smiled up at him.

            “I don’t know, I think we should try it again.”

            You kissed a few more times before you persuaded him to spend the night with you, offering up innocent nighttime cuddles.  You fall asleep facing each other, curled up in each other’s arms.

 

_The dream started off with him right in front of you, unlike before, in which you always had to look for him.  You leaned up and kissed him quickly, and the both of you smiled.  He reached out with his left hand and grabbed your left hand, holding them up in front of your faces so that you could see where the red string connected you._

_“I found you,” he said quietly, softly pressing a kiss to your ring finger._

_“Yeah,” you agreed, beaming at him.  “And I found you.”_


End file.
